Ponty under 10s Match Reports

7.11.2007

Match Reports from Pontypridd under 10s game away at
Cwmbran on Sunday 4th November 2007…

CWMBRAN UNDER 10’S
5 PONTYPRIDD
UNDER 10’S
30

The morning started early for Pontypridd at Sardis Road all
ready for their last minute away trip to Cwmbran. Darren
Pritchard lead the convoy of cars with the destination postcode
input into his sat nav, there was no stopping him. We arrived
at Cwmbran and started a light warm up. Only to be told we
were at the wrong pitch. Yes Darren’s trusty sat nav not only
took us via Abertillery but also to the wrong pitch. In one
mad hurry we scrambled to ours cars and after a mini tour of
Cwmbran we finally found the ground. The game was played on a
full size pitch with Ponty opting to play up hill.

The game started at a frantic pace with Ponty on the attack up
hill. The forwards won excellent ball time and again but good
Cwmbran defence kept us out. The backline started to click
and Adam Ashford made good ground before passing to Morgan Burgess
who was held up short. The pack arrived quickly and drove
Morgan over the line for the first score. Cwmbran tried to
counter attack from deep but solid defending from full back Lewis
Allen kept Cwmbran out. Ponty then sized the initiative and
started to run from everywhere. The uphill trek though to the
try line became more difficult. Lucas Hickman made good
ground with a typical magical run. He passed the ball out of
the tackle to scrum half Shaun Bowditch who was bundled into
touch. During this move Lucas took a bad knock to the knee
and had to leave the field. Rhys Grainger switch from second
row to centre and Big Ben Kondella took the field.

The Cwmbran team changed tactics and set up a maul only for
Ponty, lead by pack leader Greggor Mackian, to stand tall and drive
them backwards before turning them over. The ball bobbed into
touch and half time arrived with Ponty leading 0-5. The second
half started with Cwmbran throwing everything at Pontypridd but
time and time again Ponty’s Rouke’s Drift defence stood up to the
pressure with Adam Ox and Ben Kondella ripping the ball away and
driving up field. Quick thing by Mason Pritchard enabled a
counter attack. Mason got the ball on his 22 and put in a
cross kick for winger Adam Ashford to chase. Adam got down
and up in one movement and passed the ball to Morgan Burgess who
raced clear to score for Ponty.

Cwmbran again launch an attack and Ponty’s defensive all in
policy in the 22 paid off time and time again with the forwards and
backs driving Cwmbran back. Jasper Powell made a big hit up
the middle and quick ruck ball saw Lucas Hickman, who had come back
on, weave his way through tackler after tackler for a good
try. Lloyd Harris came onto the pitch and set about his
business of tackling everything that moved. Another turn over
saw Ponty attack Cwmbran. Lewis Allen was tackled on the half
way line but popped the ball up to Mason Pritchard who ran
forward. Another ruck was won and Shaun Bowditch tried to
break the defence but was tackled short. The forwards secured
the ball again and good passing by Adam Ashford put Lucas away for
his second try. More changes were made to the team to ensure
everyone had a run out. Liam Morton came on at Scrum Half,
Harley Jones and Gethin Llewellyn at prop forward. The game
dipped a little as Ponty tried to close the game down.

Cwmbran had other ideas and again pushed forward. Amazing
defence again kept Cwmbran out with good rucking and mauling from
Gethin Llewellyn. Massive kicks up field were well chased by
Adam Ashford ensuring all the hard work done by the forwards was
rewarded. Morgan Burgess some how got hold of the ball and
heard the call “go for the corner”. However, no one told him
which corner to go for so he weaved back and forth the pitch
leaving defenders all over the place before deciding to dive in at
the left corner. Cwmbran attacked once more and to their
credit got a well deserve try. From the kick off Ponty
attacked Cwmbran and Liam Mortom all most made it into the
corner. Shaun Bowditch had a few runs but Cwmbran never gave
up. Harley Jones burst out of a ruck and run for the line but
again was tackled short. The game now opened up and great attacking
saw the ball change hands several times only for Japer Powell to be
held up over the line. Ponty again attacked and from a ruck
Mason Pritchard picked up and dived over the line. The full
time whistle blew and Ponty once again had defeated a team who had
beaten them last season.

The final score: CWMBRAN UNDER 10’S
5 PONTYPRIDD
UNDER 10’S
30

This was a really tough game and Cwmbran never gave up and made
us work to the final seconds. This was an awesome team
performance with some fine tries. The forwards wore Cwmbran’s
defence down enabling our speedy back to finish off the
moves. The coaches decided on naming 2 men of the match for
this game. Lewis Allen for his tackling and off loading
skills and Lloyd “Bomber” Harris for his tackling. Ponty
again showed great team spirit with Shaun Bowditch playing scrum
half for the first time and Rhys Grainger playing second row, then
centre and then second row. Darren offered to lead the convoy
for the trip home but for some reason his offer was decline!